


For Us, The Living.

by Lanna Michaels (lannamichaels)



Category: Highlander: The Series
Genre: Community: contrelamontre, Episode: s05e12 Comes a Horseman, Episode: s05e13 Revelation 6:8, M/M, Podfic Available
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-31
Updated: 2009-01-31
Packaged: 2017-10-02 19:09:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lannamichaels/pseuds/Lanna%20Michaels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Most of it, he destroys.</p><p>Most, but not all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Us, The Living.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the contrelamontre twenty-four minute letting go challenge. The title is from the Heinlein book of the same name, which took the title from the Gettysburg Address.

Even knowing as he does about relics, he keeps the dagger.

Kronos had kept it. Kronos, somehow, had kept it. He'd kept it and kept it up and kept it. And then he'd used it. And discarded it, after achieving its final purpose.

Knowing this, he keeps the dagger.

He destroys the rest. Clothes, keepsakes, letters. Destroys it all. Kronos had found a sketch of him from 1720. Methos throws it into a fire with the rest. Photos, paintings, drawings. Destroyed. Everything Kronos left, destroyed.

His Kronos was a dagger. Nothing honorable at all, but useful. So useful. Flawed, tragically, but useful.

Kronos had achieved his final purpose so long ago. He should have killed him then. Should have killed him, but didn't.

It was strange, this. Methos was always the ruthless one. Kronos had his cruelty, but Methos could cut so sharp and so fine. He did what was necessary, always.

Kronos had reached the end of his usefulness and Methos had let him live. So strange, that. He should have killed him and walked away, forever free of his past. He should have killed him and walked away.

But he hadn't. He'd locked him away, like a knife in the dark, waiting for one last use.

And for what? So that Kronos could return and destroy his life? So he could come with his chaos and take the world by storm?

Once, Methos would have enjoyed that. Once.

Once there had been an oak tree and he had sat upon a branch and spoken to Kronos while Kronos weighed this dagger on his thumb and looked critically at it and said, "what do you think, brother? Will this last?" He had tossed it from hand to hand, watching it in the air. Will this last.

Once there had been a stream, winding its way through the rocks, and Kronos had killed a rabbit and then sharpened the dagger while Methos built the fire, and he had said, "what do you think, brother?" Of course it will last.

It did last.

It's old and should have broken long ago. It should have cracked and shattered and been useless long ago. And perhaps it was. Perhaps Kronos mended it, as only Kronos would have thought to. Perhaps Kronos spent time on it, working at the flaws, to bring it to perfection once more.

Perhaps it meant more to him than only a method to kill.

Methos stares at the blade, watching the light reflect off of it, and cleans it once more. He sharpens it carefully and studies it in the light.

Kronos kept it up, and so will he. Because its time has not yet come. There is still one final purpose left for ancient weapons.

Knowing as he does about weakness, he keeps the dagger. Because he only needs to learn a lesson once.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [For Us, The Living [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/343410) by [tinypinkmouse_podfic (tinypinkmouse)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinypinkmouse/pseuds/tinypinkmouse_podfic)




End file.
